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Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variation in living organisms, viewed within a given habitat, ecosystem or in the world as a whole. The concept is usually applied to the species diversity, although the notion of genetic biodiversity is applied to the variation in genes within an individual species. While most people think of rainforests as loci of great biodiversity, biomes such as oceans and grasslands are the likely repositories for even greater variation. Retention of diverse biota is important, since intact ecosystems are thought to be essential for provision of ecosystem services to humans, including maintenance of a diverse foodbank, pollination, clean water, flood control, pest control, waste decomposition, biomass energy resources and climate stability. Biodiversity is presently critical since we live in the era of the Mass Holocene Extinction, a period of species loss caused by man, and unrivaled in rate of species loss. Although the number of total species numbers in the tens of millions, most have not yet even been described. The extinction of a species is almost always related to destruction of habitat or man-made pollution.
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Burnt Cape
The Burnt Cape is a limestone barren headland on the extreme northwest of the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada. The prevailing harsh cold climate and calcareous...
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Kalahari xeric savanna
The Kalahari xeric savanna is an ecoregion in southern Africa characterized by a harsh climate, where temperatures may increase by 45°C from night to day, and rainfall is... More »
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South China Sea
The South China Sea is a critical world trade route and a potential source of... More »
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Ocean acidification troubles
The seas in which corals and other calcifying species dwell are turning acidic, their pH slowly dropping as Earth's oceans acidify in response to increased carbon dioxide... More »
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Coral reefs (collection)
Coral reefs are one of the most diverse, complex, aesthetically appealing and threatened ecosystems on earth. This collection will include information on a wide range of topics... More »
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Pollination
Pollination in angiosperms and gymnosperms is the process that transfers pollen grains, which contain the male gametes (sperm) to where the female gamete(s) are contained... More »
Baltic Sea
Last Updated on 2013-05-15 at 22:50
The Baltic Sea is situated between Scandinavia and mainland Europe, and extends into the North Sea. The sea is split into several smaller basins termed the Gulf of... More »
Kola Peninsula tundra
Last Updated on 2013-05-15 at 15:42
The Kola Peninsula tundra is a ecoregion covering much of Kola Peninsula of Russia as well as some northern Scandinavian subcoastal areas along the Barents Sea.
The... More »
South China Sea
Last Updated on 2013-05-14 at 17:00
The South China Sea is a critical world trade route and a potential source of... More »
White Sea
Last Updated on 2013-05-14 at 14:25
The White Sea is a saline marine water body that is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located off the northwest coast of Russia.Waters of the White Sea are rich in silicates... More »
Chukchi Sea
Last Updated on 2013-05-14 at 13:35
The Chukchi Sea is a saline marine water body bounded on the west by Russia and on the east by the USA state of Alaska.
This marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean connects to... More »
Caspian Sea
Last Updated on 2013-05-13 at 23:30
The Caspian Sea is the largest land enclosed surface water body on Earth by surface area, which amounts to approximately 371,000 square kilometres.
It is in an endorheic... More »
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